As seen on Facebook: an ad reading:

“…Top Personal Growth Product of 2010: PhilosophersNotes – more wisdom in less time.”

Spiritual Materialism…or Accessible Practicality meets Self-Help?

We here at elephant are on the fence when it comes to spiritual products like The Secret…the materialistic focus seems out of place on a path or system of paths that’s devoted to connecting us more directly to reality.

Still, though, of course, we don’t have a problem with money, with buying or selling, with basic practicality. It’s all a part of life. And Brian Johnson is an established entrepreneur in a self-help, spiritual demographic that is willing, nay eager to live life fully, and wisely, and well.

Still, though, this latest…er, “personal growth product” via our colleague Mr. Johnson—a Serial Social/Spiritual Entrepreneur (he was the founder of Zaadz, a spiritual networking site we took part in that was bought up by Gaiam)…gives us a goose bumps.

So, on behalf of elephantjournal.com, I hereby cordially invite Mr. Johnson to enlighten us as to said Product in comments below and/or in his own writeup, which we’ll feature on this site…and while we look forward to reviewing and learning more, we promise in the meantime to refrain from outright cynicism.

Comments

3884875 Responseshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.elephantjournal.com%2F2010%2F01%2Fmore-wisdom-in-less-time%2FMore+wisdom+in+less+time.2010-01-30+02%3A22%3A15elephant+journalhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.elephantjournal.com%2F%3Fp%3D38848 to “More wisdom in less time.”

Seriously, this looks like a worthy project. Website is nice. The price sounds a bit steep, though. Get rid of the "scholarships" offer and make 'em 10 or 15 bucs. But, overall, certainly a worthy effort. I hope you make money at it, Brian Johnson.

I might be the odd person out here, but I've actually read a lot of the books on this list. When you're an entrepreneur for 30 years you learn a lot about how people develop themselves to succeed. And you learn a lot about how to develop yourself to succeed.

First though, let's stop confusing spirituality with making a living! They're not completely separate, but they are not the same thing either. The books on this program run the gamut from leadership to spirituality, but let's not confuse the two.

Secondly, you guys have to understand that the term "spiritual materialism", which you throw out unthinkingly as a powerful concept, means nothing to many of us. I can guess what it means, but it has no resonance with me. From what I can tell it encompasses a whole set of assumptions about what is good and bad that I don't necessarily buy into. I made my living as a software entrepreneur. I tried to make money and grow and hire lots of people so they could make money and support their families, too. I loved my work and considered it part of my spirituality. Does that make me a spiritual materialist?

I think Philosopher's Notes is fine. I believe it will help people find the right self-help books for them. I believe deeply in books for self-development, whether it is for making a living or spiritual development or both. If this is what helps someone find the right source for them, then I'm all for it.

That said, there is nothing here that can't be accomplished by just spending a couple of hours browsing in the book store, or reading reviews of these books online.

But if it's leadership and professional development you're after, you can just read my own essay on the subject:

I know Trungpa is like a God around Boulder, but I did not find the Trungpa video particularly helpful in understanding "spiritual materialism" or Trungpa himself, for that matter. I do have a copy of the book. I found it pretty obtuse when I tried to get into it a few months ago, but at your suggestion, I'll give it another try.

Thanks for your definition, but that just deepens my lack of understanding. It's not at all clear to me what your definition has to do with Philosopher Notes. I took a closer look at Brian's 100 books and there's even more variety than I saw at first glance. But there are a lot of very serious books on this list.

Whatever it means, it's hard for me to see someone being a "spiritual materialist" from the mere fact of wanting to learn more about any of these books!

But now it's time for True Confessions. When I was in my late 20's I came upon two books that utterly changed my life. One was "Succeed in Spite of Yourself" by Evert Sutters and the other was "Unlimited Power" by Tony Robbins.

I won't spend a lot of time defending these books, except to say they were exactly what I needed at the time. The theme of both is that you are only using 10% of your capabilities at any time. The way to tap into the other 90% is to deeply study the methods of the people you most admire.

The focus was certainly on business success, but equally about finding out what gives you the deepest satisfaction in life. If that's entrepreneurship, then great. If it's music or art or becoming a priest, then you need to go off and do that. There's a lot of emphasis on getting beyond your ego and seeing the world more objectively if you want to succeed at anything.

So that's why I can't discount the power of any book for a given person. Even in the frothier of Brian's titles, there is a lot of great stuff for a particular individual at a particular time in his or her life. Sometime it's just one big idea hitting you at just the right time. In my case it was the startling idea that I was vastly under-utilizing my talent (everyone is) and nuts-and-bolts advice on how to develop myself.

It seems to me Trungpa is making a very similar point in "Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism", albeit in a very different realm. Trungpa is all about how to get beyond the restrictions of your ego. You are already way more than you think you are. But to realize that, first you have to remove the ego roadblocks. And here's a nut-and-bolts method for doing so.

This is exactly the main point of Sutters and Robbins. They even emphasize, like Trungpa, choosing one method and practicing it with great depth and focus, as opposed to just collecting superficial markers of advancement.

The difference, and it's a big one, is that they see a great deal of satisfaction in life coming from financial and career success, whereas Trungpa believes it can only come from spirituality (at least in his writing, perhaps not so much in his actions.)

I personally think Brian Johnson is solid and is providing a kick ass resource in PN. Who has time to dive into all those amazing books? He has cut to the chase and if it means more folks have access to, and easily understand critically important teachings, all the better! The guy is bright. If it were some chump doing this, I would have an issue, but I trust him and his offerings.

I'm actually shocked that someone would think this is spiritual materialism. How is it different than Byron Katie or Eckhart Tolle writing a book, working their ass off, and wanting to get compensated? I'm happy to pay teachers whatever I can. It is money well spent.

starving is never good. worrying if you will be sleeping in your car tomorrow is not fun. even yogis need money. we are not meant to suffer. even spiritual people need material wealth. and i would argue that we need it more. and more now than ever before. we need the money to be in the hands of the conscious. unfortunately, it is not that way currently. let's turn the tides. bring on the wealth!

if 'timeless wisdom' is capable of being summarised in this fashion, there's probably nothing particularly timeless about it ….

I don't have a problem with the product, per se, simply that 'self development' never brought lasting peace or freedom to anyone (there was a book published a few years back called "We've Had a Hundred Years of Psychotherapy–And the World's Getting Worse" – i think the same could be said of personal development – in a shorter time zone)

So i question the value of the product from that perspective – after all, personal development requires one to build upon an individuated person, the existence of which has yet to be proven (despite more than 10 000 years of recorded human history).

… and if a book DOES contain timeless wisdom, perhaps summarising it is not the wisest thing to do …

2) Who said anything about "lasting peace or freedom". Most of these book aim to help people live a more satisfying life–to support their famlies, to have better relationships, to be more compassionate–today and tomorrow and next year, not forever and ever.

3) The world is filled with ordinary people who's lives have been immeasurably enriched by these books. I told my story above in my "True Confessions" comment. What's yours?

4) I don't know what to make of your obtuse "individuated person" remark!

I agree with you that timeless wisdom often takes many years to absorb. But sometimes, as it says in the Yoga Sutra, it can come "in a flash of spontaneous illumination". It all depends on where the individual happens to be in his or her life. The long process is often triggered by the simplest of ideas. And the simplest ideas are what often finally clarify and consolidate years of seeking.

But while we're on the subject of the Yoga Sutra, did it occur to anyone that these were the original Cliff Notes? This was Patanjali's attempt to simplify the already complex Yoga wisdom of his day. And the Yoga Sutra is far shorter than the average Cliff Notes. To top it all off, I've heard the Yoga Sutra referred to as the first recorded personal development book.

But it doesn't stop at the Yoga Sutra. I would argue that many if not most of the great spritual leaders have been radical simplifiers. The Buddha certainly was. Jesus, no question about it. Whoever wrote the Upanishads were the greatest simplifiers of all. While voluminous, each individual Upanishad is the ultimate in spare profundity, often openly scoffing at the complex Vedic priestly wisdom of the day. The greatest Upanishads are only a page or two in length.

Can you think of any great spiritual leader who was not a simplifier and a synthesiser? Moses? Rumi? Ghandi? The Dalai Lama? Who are the great spiritual complexifiers? I'm sure they're out there, but right now I can't think of even one. (One of the reasons I'm having trouble with Trungpa right now is that, with my limited knowledge, he comes across as a great complexifier rather than a simplifier. But I know I need to give him more time.)

I have the same reactions to Trungpa as you do, as I hinted at above, but didn't say so clearly and directly as you do. (I said he was a "complexifier".) I keep giving Trungpa more tries because I can see how influential he has been for many Elephantphiles, starting with Waylon himself. Because of that, I will continue to work a little extra hard to see what they see in him.

What you said about Trungpa's approach to the ego was part of another really interesting disucussion on Elephant recently about Buddhism vs. Yoga. I think you would enjoy it:

I was a student of Trungpa, Rinpoche and around him when Cutting Through was just being published, and, yes,
he drank…vast quantities…but…he never hid anything he did…and every moment of personal contact I had with him
was on the dot and very helpful. He was an intense human being…incredibly kind and thoroughly uncompromising.

Holy Shit! I have to go with having a primer to prepare for future study can be helpful. If used just to sling new-age barbs at people then its crap. But then again, any book gets put into that category.

Did Bob Weisenberg comment like 45 times on this post? Damn, I may have dreams about him tonight…..

I was in Boulder at the time Trungpa started his public lectures. First, I had met with him privately in the mtns then I went to the first public event. At that time, he appeared on stage in local garb (plaid shirt, jeans, boots) and carried a bottle a fifth of Jack Daniels on stage with him.

My understanding of what he was doing ties in directly with Spiritual Materialism. The crowd that had gathered was totally into worshiping the spiritual guru – their image of what he should be. And Trungpa was set on defeating those expectations, which stood in the way.

Those who criticize Trungpa for being an alcoholic perhaps bought off on his ploy and were stuck at that same condition of looking for a guru to worship rather than moving ahead in their practice toward enlightenment.

Comparing the work above with Spiritual Materialism is definitely comparing apples and oranges. Not even on the same playing field.

I am always amused by the reaction (and no reaction) I receive when I point out the last verse in the Dhammapada:

"Whoever knows all his past lives,
Sees both the happy and the unhappy realms,
Is free from rebirth,
Has achieved perfect insight,
And has attained the summit of the higher life,
Him do I call a Noble One."

"marketing and advertising are inherently awkward for anyone sensitive to self-promotion…"

They don't have to be. Again, check out Baked in, by Winsor and Bogusky. It's vital for marketing to have the same style, fun, integrity and seriousness of purpose as the product. You don't have to sucker folks in with cheap hooks.

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